Diablo: Huge tree topples onto million-dollar home

DIABLO -- Three people escaped injury Monday afternoon when a massive 50-foot tree came crashing down on a million-dollar home, causing severe damage, authorities said.

The incident was reported about 3:12 p.m. in the 1900 block of Alameda Diablo, in an unincorporated community near Danville.

San Ramon Valley Fire spokeswoman Kimberly French said Heritage Oak trees, which can be hundreds of years old, are common to the area, but she was not certain if that was the type of tree that fell Monday.

Fire officials and inspectors were on the scene until about 8 p.m. checking the damage and determining whether the home was safe to live in.

The house was ultimately red-tagged, meaning it was not safe to enter the building. Real estate site Zillow.com estimated the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom home's value at $1.4 million.

Officials called in a contractor to cover holes in the roof with tarps to keep today's expected rain showers from soaking the contents of the home.

Workers said the tree was "pretty much the hugest" they could recall falling on a home, a dispatcher said.